1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fixing member that retains a fixed member, such as a cord, and can be fitted to and removed from a counter-part member (i.e., fitting member disposed on a counter-part side, to which the fixing member should be attached), such as a weather strip, by its own flexible force (i.e., resiliency), a cord fixing structure, a vehicle-mounted apparatus, a vehicle and a method of fabricating such a fixing member. Here, the term “weather strip” means a water-proofing elastic member that is fitted to a door opening portion at the side of a car main body, a trunk opening portion at the side of the car main body, a peripheral portion at the side of a car door, a lid portion of a trunk, etc., for preventing water, dust and sound from entering a vehicle (e.g., car).
2. Description of the Related Art
Various apparatuses are mounted to a vehicle (e.g., car). Among them, with regard to the apparatuses fitted outside the car, such as a camera or an antenna, connection cords are taken into the car to connect the apparatuses fitted outside the car to the apparatuses fitted inside the car. In this case, it is necessary to take water-proofing measures, and therefore, the following water-proofing means is employed. In order to make problems concerning a connection cord fitting member according to the prior art easily understood, a structure of the connection cord fitting member according to the prior art will be explained hereby with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 that will be described in the laterappearing portion “BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS”.
A schematic view showing the connection cord fitting member according to the prior art, is illustrated in FIG. 1. In this drawings, portion (a) shows a front view and portion (b) shows a bottom view. A schematic view showing a wiring state using the connection cord fitting member according to the prior art, is illustrated in FIG. 2. In this drawing, portion (a) shows a front view and portion (b) shows a side view. However, an explanation will be made hereby in the case in which the connection cord fitting member (corresponding to a fixing member) is fitted to a weather strip (hereinafter referred to as “door weather strip”) arranged around a door opening portion for a car door at the side of a car main body by way of example.
In the drawings, reference numeral 80 denotes a connection cord fitting member. The connection cord fitting member 80 is a fitting member for fitting a connection cord (also referred to as “cord” for short) 75 for connecting a camera mounted outside the car to an apparatus disposed inside a car room (neither the camera nor the apparatus is shown in the drawings) to a door weather strip 70 arranged around a door opening portion for a car door, as shown in FIG. 2.
The connection cord fitting member 80 is a rectangular sheet, the height of which gradually increases from each of the edge portions thereof towards the central portion thereof (the connection cord fitting member 80 looks like an isosceles triangle as viewed in the side view as in FIG. 2), as shown in FIG. 1. A cord retention hole 81 for retaining a connection cord 75 is formed in the proximity of an apex of the isoceles triangle, in the same direction as an edge of the apex of the isoceles triangle. A double-faced adhesive tape 77 is attached to the bottom surface 82 of the connection cord fitting member 80 so as to fix the connection cord fitting member 80 to the door weather strip 70. A cut portion 83 is formed by cutting an edge of the cord retention hole 81, and a slit is defined by the cut portion 83 (in the same direction as an edge of the apex of the isoceles triangle) between the cord retention hole 81 and the bottom surface 82 (inclusive of the double-faced adhesive tape 77) so as to pass through the connection cord 75. A flexible member, such as a synthetic rubber, is used as the material of the connection cord fitting member 80, and is fabricated by means of molding to provide the connection cord fitting member 80.
Further, a wiring process by using the connection cord fitting member 80 will be explained with reference to FIG. 2.
First, the bottom portion of the connection cord fitting member 80 is bent towards the apex (upward in portion (a) of FIG. 1) and the cut portion 83 functioning as an edge-cut portion of the cord retention hole 81 is expanded. A predetermined position of the connection cord 75 is fitted into the cord retention hole 81, through the cut portion 83 expanded as mentioned above. Next, a release liner of the double-faced adhesive tape 77 attached to the bottom of the connection cord fitting member 80 is peeled to expose the adhesive surface. The connection cord fitting member 80 that can be thus adhered to the door weather strip 70 is bonded and fixed to the predetermined position of the door weather strip 70 in such a manner that the connection cord 75 is arranged substantially at right angles with the door weather strip 70.
Incidentally, in the prior art example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the connection cord fitting member is fitted to the door weather strip disposed around the door opening portion for the car door at the side of the car main body. However, the connection cord fitting member can also be fitted to the weather strip disposed in some other portions (e.g., a trunk opening portion) at the side of the car main body, or disposed in a peripheral portion at the side of the car door, or disposed in a lid portion of a trunk. Further, in this example, the connection cord having a cylindrical sectional shape is fitted to the connection cord fitting member. However, it is also possible to fit a connection cord of an antenna or the like, having an elliptic or rectangular sectional shape, to the connection cord fitting member when the shape of the cord retention hole is appropriately changed in accordance with the shape of the connection cord.
Incidentally, the following related references (i.e., References 1 to 3) describe the example in which the connection cord fitting member is fitted to the weather strip disposed in the trunk opening portion at the side of the car main body, or disposed in the lid portion of the trunk.
Reference 1                Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 5-56644        
Reference 2                Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 9-254694        
Reference 3                Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 11-5497        
According to the fixing structure of the connection cord described above, however, the connection cord fitting member 80 is bonded to the door weather strip 70 through the double-faced adhesive tape 77, as shown in FIG. 2. Since the connection cord fitting member 80 is repeatedly pushed every time the door is opened and closed, an extension and contraction of the surface of the double-faced adhesive layer bonded to the door weather strip 80 occurs, and the double-faced adhesive tape 77 is peeled from the door weather strip 70. Consequently, the connection cord fitting member 80 falls off in some cases. When the connection cord fitting member 80 is bonded to the door weather strip 70 by using an adhesive bond or the like having higher bonding strength than the double-faced adhesive tape 77 to solve the above disadvantage, the connection cord fitting member 80 cannot be easily removed from the door weather strip 70 at the time of the mounting and removal of an apparatus, the exchange of the apparatus and the change of the arrangement of the apparatus.